Astronauts Joe Tanner and Carlos Noriega, who already had spent 7 1/2 hours working outside the spaceship, were ordered back into Endeavour's crew cabin because their oxygen reserves were getting too low and because at that time there was nothing more they could do. Tanner and Noriega took only an hour and a half installing the P6 power module outside the space station Sunday afternoon.
The two men gave voice cues to assist Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau as he used the shuttle's robotic arm to move and position the 35,000-pound module onto Alpha's exterior. Everything worked perfectly. Then, Tanner and Noriega secured the space station's newest addition with four bolts. After performing more preparation work on the $600 million power module, the two astronauts moved away, waiting for the panels to release. That's when a pin holding a cover on the left solar array prevented its deployment.
Mission Control took time to understand the problem, consulted with Endeavour commander Brent Jett and finally decided to deploy the right panel while analysis of the pin problem continued. Two hours behind schedule, the massive solar wing spread without apparent problems, but once it became fully extended, it did not seem to be as taut as engineers wanted.
And that made the space agency decide not to deploy the left panel until it is clear what is causing the lack of tension in the right one that's already deployed, said mission flight director Bill Reeves. "There is no reason to be in a big hurry and deploy the other blanket until we absolutely understand what we saw," he said. It is not excluded, however, that an attempt to release the panel could come tomorrow, NASA's spokesman Rob Navias said.
The second of three space walks by Tanner and Noriega remains scheduled for Tuesday, Reeves said. A decision on whether to send the astronauts to tighten the limp right panel is under consideration, but has yet to be made. Besides, Reeves said, the panel is working and producing electricity as expected.
The P6 power module consists of four solar panels, 12 batteries and electronic control equipment. Overall, it will provide 65 kilowatts of electrical power to the station. About 19 kilowatts will be used by NASA's Destiny research laboratory when it is attached to the station in January. The laboratory likely could be launched even if only one of the two solar wings was deployed, said John Curry, space station flight director.
Once fully extended, the four arrays will be the largest structures ever deployed in space. With a length of about 240 feet, they are larger than the wingspan of a 777 jet, NASA said. Each of the panels has 33,000 cells made of purified silicon ingots that turn sunlight into electricity.
Even though Endeavour and Alpha docked Saturday, the five shuttle astronauts and three station occupants won't have a chance to meet until Friday. In fact, the air pressure in the two ships is so different that the hatches into Alpha's living quarters must remain sealed until the shuttle crew finishes with its third and final space walk. Endeavour and its crew are to spend 11 days in space, seven of them docked to Alpha. The shuttle is expected to return to Earth on Dec. 11.
Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
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